Wow! What a view! Red Mountain Lookout via Indian Racetrack is well worth it!
It’s about a 4-1/2 hour drive from Seattle, via highway 14 past the Bridge of the Gods to the mill town of Carson, then following the well-marked roads to Crest Camp. Crest Camp has three or four nice campsites with picnic benches and a vault toilet. There’s a separate small parking area for hikers.
We followed the PCT as it gradually gained elevation to enter Indian Heaven Wilderness and reach the turnoff to Indian Racetrack. From the racetrack, the trail to Red Mountain is steep, especially near the top. The lookout’s empty, locked, and shuttered, but you can access the wrap-around deck. The views of Hood, Saint Helens, Adams, and Rainier made it worthwhile. Sad to see so little snow and ice on those peaks.
The next day we hiked over Berry Mountain past Blue Lake to Elk Lake. There’s a few brushy sections on Berry Mountain. Only two step-over blowdowns on the PCT between Crest Camp and Blue Lake. There were no other campers at Elk Lake, so we had the whole lake to ourselves. Barred owls started hooting at each other in the middle of the night and woke us up. They were probably making fun of our big packs!
Mid-week in mid-September, there wasn’t much foot traffic, but we did run into several NOBO and SOBO through-hikers, including Hillbilly, Bush Pilot, Tootsie, Straight Up, Elf (from Italy!), Peanut Gallery, and a few others. Champions!
On the third day we hiked out from Elk Lake to the car, stopped in Kalama for dinner, and made it home just as it was getting dark.
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